Folia Theologica 17. (2006)

Uwe Michael Lang: Early Christian Latin as a Liturgical Language

EARLY CHRISTIAN LATIN AS A LITURGICAL LANGUAGE 145

Greek, Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Georgian and Ethiopie was used. However, the situation in the West was fundamentally different from the West. The centralizing force of the Roman church was such that Latin became the only liturgical language. This was an important factor in furthering ecclesiastical, cultural and political unity. Latinitas became one of the defining characteristics of Western Europe.

5. Characteristics of Liturgical Latin - the Roman Canon

Finally, I should like to comment on a few characteristics of liturgical Latin. Because of the restrictions of time, I can do so only in a cursory manner, and I have to limit myself to the Roman Canon of Mass. It would be worthwhile to study this subject in greater detail not only in the Canon, but also in the collects and prefaces; I hope to be able to do this in the future.

The stylistic characteristics of the Roman Canon can be seen best if we compare the early text from the De sacramentis with the established text from the Old Gelasian sacramentary.47 You can find on your handout the two versions printed side-by-side. One notable feature is the replacement of paratactic constructions by a relative clause or an ablative absolute. In Ambrose, the individual sections of the Eucharistic prayer are not grammatically connected with the preceding one. In the later revision, there was a tendency to connect these sections with relative clauses. For instance, 'Fac nobis hanc oblationem scriptam, rationabilem, acceptabilem was changed to 'Quam oblationem tu, Deus, in omnibus quaesumus, benedictam, adscriptam, ratam rationabilem acceptabilemque facere digneris' ('Vouchsafe, O God, we beseech thee, in all things to make this oblation blessed, approved and accepted, a perfect and worthy offering').48 'Tu, Deus'

47 This analysis is based on Mohrmann, Liturgical Latin, pp. 58-62, and G. G. WILLIS (t), A History of Early Roman Liturgy to the Death of Pope Gregory the Great (HBS. Subsidia 1), London 1994, pp. 23-32.

48 The English version of the Roman Canon used here is the one found in the Anglican Use Book of Divine Worship, which is approved for use in a number of Catholic parishes in the United States: The Book of Divine Worship, Mt. Pocono, PA: Newman House Press, 2003.